The present disclosure relates generally to tracked work vehicles, and more particularly, to a tracked work vehicle suspension system.
Certain work vehicles are moved on continuous tracks having a suspension system, which includes an undercarriage beam. The undercarriage beam is used to support the vehicle above load bearing wheels (e.g., roller wheels) rolling on the continuous track as the track moves. It is desirable to distribute the weight of the work vehicle on the load bearing wheels to limit damage to the continuous track due to overheating or other weight overload issues. To achieve the weight distribution across the load bearing wheels, certain embodiments of the suspension dampen rotation of the wheels (e.g., roll, yaw, pitch). However, excessive movement of the suspension system components may induce contact between elements of the suspension system and/or the work vehicle. Additionally, it is often desirable to limit the width of the suspension system to control the overall width of the vehicle. For example, if the suspension system uses a shear element to damp the movement of the wheels, and to support the vehicle, the width of the suspension system may be wider than is desirable, and/or may not provide sufficient damping of vertical motion (e.g., pitch) after extended periods of use.